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This Week in Anime - Saturday Morning Astro Boy




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mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
Posts: 1302
Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 2:14 pm Reply with quote
This played early on Sunday mornings in about 1965 - 66 in my hometown. I got to see a fair number of episodes ( It was broadcast early enough that my 7 year old self wasn't always awake. ) and I recall it being hard to follow. But, it was definitely different and fun most of the time.

Mark Gosdin
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2902
PostPosted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 3:19 pm Reply with quote
Ah, the first "16 years" anime, I did not manage to watch the bw version though I watched (in tv ) the colour one; was that one a full remake or just recolored ?

Quote:
Astro Boy is a good boy, anthropomorphic animal ladies are hot.


I chuckled quite a bit at this, considering that tezuka's stash was leaked and it's contents.
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dm
Subscriber



Joined: 24 Sep 2010
Posts: 1463
PostPosted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 3:28 pm Reply with quote
Animated science fiction at the dawn of the Space Age warped me for life, and gave me a life long interest in animation. Thanks, Tezuka-sensei, and thanks, Mr Ladd.
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levonr



Joined: 19 Nov 2003
Posts: 820
PostPosted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 3:55 pm Reply with quote
maximilianjenus wrote:
I did not manage to watch the bw version though I watched (in tv ) the colour one; was that one a full remake or just recolored ?


The 1980 anime was a full remake.
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CorneredAngel



Joined: 17 Jun 2002
Posts: 854
Location: New York, NY
PostPosted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 5:26 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Well, considering the script (adaptive script and ADR direction?) is very prominently credited to an entirely different guy, I'd say it's fair to assume there was a fair bit fudged in translation.


If you're interested, Fred Ladd got around to writing up many of his experiences - Astro Boy and Anime Come to the Americas: An Insider's View of a Pop Culture Phenomenon


Last edited by CorneredAngel on Wed Feb 26, 2020 10:10 am; edited 2 times in total
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gridsleep





PostPosted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 6:16 pm Reply with quote
Samurai Pizza Cats, anyone? For "liberal" translations (read: pulled out of their ass.)

1963. I was there. Watching on the living room rug and reading Daleks in Gerry Anderson's TV Century 21 magazine.
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Wyvern



Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 1596
PostPosted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 7:18 pm Reply with quote
Levonr wrote:
maximilianjenus wrote:
I did not manage to watch the bw version though I watched (in tv ) the colour one; was that one a full remake or just recolored ?


The 1980 anime was a full remake.


There was also a 2003 remake (made to celebrate the year in which the original manga took place) which did a fantastic job of modernizing the writing and animation (its visuals hold up better today than most shows from its time) while still keeping the spirit of the original manga intact. There was an English dub but sadly it was heavily edited. I'm not sure if an official uncut sub was ever released.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14886
PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 3:58 pm Reply with quote
Somebody release the 1980s version
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Cryten



Joined: 19 Jan 2019
Posts: 1134
PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 8:38 pm Reply with quote
I would love to see a fully translated 1980's Japanese version. It was still a kids show but alot more full on about the tough subjects of humanity subverting and exploiting sentient beings.
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Ouran High School Dropout



Joined: 28 Jun 2015
Posts: 440
Location: Somewhere in Massachusetts, USA
PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 10:10 pm Reply with quote
NBC Enterprises (not to be confused with the NBC network) was the American licensor back in the day. It was a distributor for syndication, and actually had a direct say in the actual production--since the American firm was funding the show to the tune of $10,000 (or 300,000 yen) per episode.

But American money came at a price: script demands and restrictions, the biggest being no adult themes, nudity, or ongoing story lines. Tezuka wasn't made aware until after twelve episodes had already been delivered--and six were rejected. Three were able to be recut, but the rest could not be salvaged and never aired in America.
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Cutiebunny



Joined: 18 Apr 2010
Posts: 1767
PostPosted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 12:10 am Reply with quote
from the article wrote:
Someone somewhere has this cel framed and it is their pride and joy..


Probably not. You're looking at a roughly 60 year old acetate cel. Acetate does not have a long shelf life and is prone to a thing called Vinegar Syndrome (as part of the chemical process, the cel breaks down and begins to warp), even under the best conditions...and believe me, Japanese cel collectors are notorious for poor storage conditions. I've been to cel stores in Japan where the owners smoked around the artwork. They're routinely stored in random plastic bags instead of some solid poly bags, and if you know anything about cels, poly bags need to be checked and often replaced every year or so to ensure that the paint is not reacting to the plastic. Often the backgrounds or matching cel douga are stored with the cel and without a dividing bag or layer in between, which means that the background often bleeds into the paint and/or is plastered to the back of the cel. Over the years, I've seen a couple videos on YouTube where someone will go through their collection, and it's in some random storage closet in Japan, stuffed inside cardboard boxes. I doubt that the humidity and temperature levels are ever checked, and that accelerates the aging process.
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taster of pork



Joined: 11 Nov 2008
Posts: 596
Location: My House
PostPosted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 6:45 am Reply with quote
I'm still waiting for a uncut release of the 2003 series. Sad
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al505



Joined: 29 Nov 2003
Posts: 25
PostPosted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:22 am Reply with quote
Ahh, the monochromatic anime of my youth! Astro Boy, Tobor the Eighth Man, Gigantor and Kimba to name a few although Kimba was in color, I believe. We only had black and white televisions because no one I knew could afford color TV's back in the day, least of all, mine.
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Jefcat



Joined: 09 Feb 2006
Posts: 107
Location: Palm Desert
PostPosted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 11:25 am Reply with quote
Takes me back to see these shows, my intro to anime. And since we didn’t get color TV until around 1972, it was all B&W
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bravesirz



Joined: 20 Nov 2019
Posts: 11
PostPosted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 4:51 pm Reply with quote
To my knowledge, the 1963, 1980, and 2003 series(s) have yet to receive a Japanese language release in the US.
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